A butterfly mop is characterized in that it comprises an elongate, foldable, compressible, liquid-absorbent member, such as a sponge, which is disposed at one end of a mop shaft, and which is used to absorb liquid, typically water, from a surface. When it is desired to expel liquid from the absorbent member, portions of the absorbent member are folded over one another along a transverse axis of the absorbent member and are compressed, using a folding mechanism such as a roller or track. Butterfly mops are so named because the folding and unfolding of the absorbent member along its transverse axis is said to resemble the motion of the wings of a butterfly.
One typical butterfly mop is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,892,201. As shown therein, the butterfly mop includes an elongate liquid absorbent member, a plate connected to a surface of each “wing” of the liquid absorbent member, and an activating rod pivotally connected to a portion of each of the plates adjacent the other plate. The plates are drawn along the dual arms of a yoke-like track to thereby fold the liquid absorbent member over onto itself and to compress the liquid absorbent member within a compression space disposed between and defined by the dual arms of the track. Numerous other butterfly mops are known in the prior art.
A common problem with conventional butterfly mops is the difficulty inherent in manually applying sufficient force to the actuating mechanism to fold the liquid absorbent member over onto itself and to compress the liquid absorbent member sufficiently to satisfactorily expel liquid therefrom. Indeed, in typical butterfly mops, substantial physical effort may be required to compress the absorbent member. Another drawback lies in the difficulty of removing a spent liquid absorbent member and of attaching a new liquid absorbent member. Known absorbent members typically are sized to be received by and supported on only one type of mop. A liquid absorbent member from one mop often will not fit on a second mop, and thus retailers must stock many different sizes of mop elements.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a mop that overcomes these drawbacks of earlier mops.